Hong Kong to push FIFA for greater player pool

HONG KONG (Reuters) - The Hong Kong Football Association will lobby FIFA for dispensation to allow long-term residents without a Hong Kong passport to represent the national team. HKFA Chief Executive Mark Sutcliffe believes a permanent identification card should be enough to represent the team for those foreign-born residents who have lived in Hong Kong for more than seven years. If it was approved, it would open up a far greater playing pool for the East Asians who currently sit a lowly 167th in the FIFA rankings. "I will speak to the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) legal advisor about the best way possible to handle this situation and get their support to help me lobby FIFA," he was quoted as saying by the South China Morning Post on Thursday. "We want the ID card as proof of nationality. If this fails, I will lobby our immigration department about special 'sporting passports'." Sutcliffe, in Bahrain for the AFC's annual Congress later on Thursday, said mooted changes to the eligibility rules for representing China's national team could also help Hong Kong's cause. China has ruled the former British colony since 1997 through a "one country, two systems" formula. "I have heard... they are looking at revisiting the question of dual nationality for talented players who have lived more than five years in China. If this happens it would apply for Hong Kong too," Sutcliffe said. Hong Kong kick off their joint 2018 World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup qualifying campaign in June against Bhutan before matches against Maldives, China and Qatar. (Writing by Patrick Johnston in Singapore; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)